HIGH FALLS // PRESS

Cold In July

It was just last summer that Michael C Hall stayed at The Saint James Kingston vacation rental in Kingston, New York while filming Cold In July. It's the fourth film this year that has been filmed in the Hudson Valley!

It was the pursuit of more space and natural surroundings that first drew Jenifer Constantine and Trippy Thompson from Williamsburg to Rosendale in 2007. “Summers are amazing here, and the intense lushness that the whole area becomes is the stuff of life,” Jenifer says. “Between the farms, and the food, and the color, and the growth – it’s pretty amazing.”

What seemed financially unattainable in Brooklyn was fully realized upstate when the couple opened Market Market, a cafe´and concert venue across the street from the Trailways bus station.

As eclectic as it is small-town familiar, Market Market invites the artistically-inclined in every regard. Exposed iron piping, wire-backed bar chairs and salvaged wooden accents salute the provincial nature of its previous occupiers, the Springtown Green Grocer – a local market that once featured fresh organic produce, vegetarian-friendly lunches and a steaming station.

In addition to offering a full cafe and dinner menu, Market Market hosts a variety of performances, including disco dance parties, karaoke, and monthly tribute nights called “TributiAon” (past themes have included Burt Bacharach and Fleetwood Mac). “I don’t ever want it to be a niche´ spot, and I’m proud when it feels like a community,” she says, referring to the diversity of Market Market’s customers. “It happens…and it’s striking when it happens.”

Sevan Melikyan with his wife Maria Guralnik at the recent opening for the Lenny Kislin-curated “Show of Shows” at Wired Gallery (photo by Robin Burnosky)

"Wired Gallery is located in a single wood-paneled room, formerly an office for a realtor and an energy company, in an unprepossessing building off Route 213 in High Falls. It’s a modest setting at best, yet the Gallery has become one of Ulster County’s most high-profile, prolific sources of quality art exhibitions.

Since opening in May 2012, the Gallery’s 17 group shows and single solo exhibition have represented the work of 65 local artists. Gallery director Sevan Melikyan also has organized three pop-up shows, each devoted to the work of a single artist – two of them, located in Stone Ridge and Rosendale, collectively raised $2,400 for local charities – and two “art forays” at Mohonk Mountain House, which consisted of massive group shows with art priced affordably (no work was priced over $250 and many pieces went for less than $100).

“I have a special relationship with Mohonk Mountain House that allows me to have a presence there during their Community Week, which happens in December and March,” Melikyan said. Besides organizing the upcoming Art Foray on December 10, he organized the Hudson Valley Expo Event in September, and will put together a show for Mohonk’s Locavore Festival in February. On November 30 and December 1, he’ll host another Art Foray at Wired.

A proponent of education, Melikyan also organized a student art show for the Rondout Valley Central School District, has presented lectures – including one just last week at the Jewish Museum in New York City focusing on the time that Marc Chagall spent in High Falls – and has hosted a chamber music concert at Wired Gallery.

It’s an incredibly productive tenure, considering that Melikyan was a complete newcomer to the local art scene when he moved to High Falls with his wife and child in 2009. A visual artist himself, Melikyan is no stranger to the world of art – nor of nonprofits, which he said are the model for his various ventures. He takes a measly 25 percent commission (30 percent when the show entails renting a tent) and to a large extent relies on donations. He has successfully reached out to local restaurants, including Anatolia, the DePuy Canal House, Big Cheese, the Yum Yum Noodle Bar, Bistro to Go and Stone Ridge Wine and Spirits to provide the comestibles and beverages at his popular openings; in some cases, the artists themselves contribute to the cost of mounting the shows." Lynn W // Almanac Weekly

"The Hudson Valley is vast and varied. With hundreds of miles of sandstone and granite cliffs, cattail-lined riverbanks, former factory towns, orchards, farmland and forests, the scale of its geography and the scope of its history are daunting. To spend a weekend dropping into its musty bookstores and sizable art institutions or idling between hilltop castles, divey small-town bars and doily B&Bs is like skipping a stone into a river: you bounce along, but barely break the surface. From New York City, it’s a one-hour train trip to Peekskill, at the doorstep of the mid-Hudson Valley, but the region can be fully explored only on the kind of road trip that skirts one side of the river and winds down the other, hopscotching between historic estates and detouring for farm stands, roadside diners and seductive swimming holes."

"4 p.m. Walking on Water

In 2009, after years of abandonment, the fire-damaged Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge was restored and reopened as the Walkway Over the Hudson, a State Historic Park and one of the longest elevated pedestrian bridges in the world. Walk its 1.28-mile expanse in the late afternoon, when the Hudson’s celebrated light is at its most captivating. Then, take a drive through New Paltz and out on Mountain Rest Road, past the 144-year-old Mohonk Mountain House lake resort, to the Mohonk Preserve. Continue through the hamlets of High Falls and Stone Ridge, and over the Ashokan Reservoir, one of New York City’s pristine water sources. Along the way, stop in at the Last Bite for a cup of Catskill Mountain Coffee or kitschy, 1970s-era Egg’s Nest Saloon for a Sicilian egg cream ($2.75) or a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie ($4.50)."

Ulster Magazine: BACK IN THE KITCHEN

May/June 2013: By Lisa Ramirez

Photos by Philip Kamrass

"It began as a secret oasis of sorts, an extraordinary and original eatery tucked in the deep of Ulster County, the tiny hamlet of High Falls. A kid named John Novi had bought the old Stone House Tavern, vacant and neglected and, as far as most everyone else agreed, a building that was very likely too old, too rambling, and too far gone to save.

But save it he did, room by room and creaky stair by leaky pipe, working for years until the historic tavern by the abandoned canal lock was restored to rustic magnificence. He opened the restaurant in 1969, the year of a chaotic three-day concert over in Bethel and at a time when every American kitchen was equipped with a fondue pot, a crepe pan and a stash of Campbell’s cream soups. And it’s here where Novi would come to be known as the Father of New American Cooking, marrying his two passions – food and art – and introducing the world to a fresh, artistic and occasionally irreverent approach to fine dining.

The Depuy Canal House would go on to become a culinary mecca in the truest sense of the word, a place of pilgrimage for foodies from across the country and, even, the globe, that has managed to become as familiar and comfortable as one’s own dining room for those of us lucky enough to live nearby.

Novi has spent his storied career in the sprawling kitchen he built himself, much of it from relics and materials salvaged and discovered during excursions to junk stores, antique shops and estate sales. A year or so ago he announced his retirement, and the dismay over the loss of what is arguably the Hudson Valley’s most esteemed kitchen was heard across the region. Happily, Novi missed his kitchen, too, and he has since reopened on weekends.

But back to 1969. Well, 1970, actually. Novi had been open about a year and he was in his kitchen – smaller than it is now;

he wouldn’t build it out for a few more years – and seated at a table in one of the Canal House’s intimate dining rooms was a formidable party that included Craig Claiborne, the New York Times’ food critic, and two famed French chefs, Pierre Franey and Jacques Pépin. They ordered a seven-course meal, Claiborne gave Novi four stars, and that night, a culinary star secured its place in the heavens.

How he got here

John Novi was born in Brooklyn, but his family, as far as he can recall, always had a place "up here." They had a bungalow in Kerhonkson, then a place in New Paltz on the Wallkill River. When he was 11, his family moved out of the city and opened the Novi’s Bakery and Restaurant in High Falls.

"I always knew that this is where I wanted to spend the rest of my life," says Novi, who, as a kid, became fascinated with local history, collecting old photographs and artifacts gleaned from garage sales and any attic he could get himself into. He learned to cook at his mother’s side – Maria Novi’s decadent chocolate cake is a staple on an otherwise always-evolving menu – and spent a year in Italy honing his skills in the country’s hotel kitchens before opening the Canal House.

Claiborne’s four-star rating – an exceedingly rare bestowment, especially upon restaurants outside Manhattan – catapulted the Canal House to instant fame, and the famous soon followed. Robert De Niro, Debra Winger, Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Harvey Keitel, John Lennon and Yoko Ono all have lingered at its wooden tables alongside working fireplaces, and the DePuy Canal House has, for decades now, held a place on nearly every connoisseur’s "Places to Eat Before You Die" list." Lisa R // Ulster Magazine

This is an excerpt. Read the full story in the May/June edition of Ulster Magazine at ulstermagazine.com.

At first glance around the little country store known as the High Falls Food Co-Op, a local shopper or visiting weekender would see a compact, charming health-food store with a rustic, farmhouse feel.Along with the requisite jars of herbs, organic foods, free-trade coffee, and shelves with homeopathic remedies, the High Falls Food Co-Op also offers plenty of on-site freshly prepared foods, as well as local grass-fed meats, local dairy products, local eggs, local produce, local honey, local breads, and local syrups. All with the emphasis, of course, on the LOCAL. Two large cases filled with organic vegetables and fruits, many picked that morning at farms up the road, line one side of the store. Upon entering, you realize that, as charming and sweet as the store appears, the commitment by the staff and members to providing organic, fresh, local foods has become a full-on mission.

But the High Falls Food Co-Op doesn’t just provide great food like other health food or whole foods stores. As a true co-op, it is a community-owned entity, with a current membership of around 450 people. While anyone is allowed to shop there, being a member of a co-op does confer some benefits, such as discounts on purchases and the right to nominate and vote for board members. However, as Jodi Fogel, general manager, explains, “what I try to tell people is that they are part of, basically, a political entity. With their dollars, they are making a statement about what kinds of food and businesses they want to support. “

Co-ops are different from other businesses in that they are non-profit and are run democratically by their members. The food co-op concept has been growing rapidly as the local food movement and farmers’ markets have raised awareness of buying local, organic foods. By pooling their resources, the members can buy in bulk for better prices, while having more say and control over the kinds of foods they purchase, and what types of businesses they purchase them from. The support of other small, individually owned businesses is a big part of the overall mission and ethos of co-ops. With their purchasing power, people can make a choice to support local and small businesses, as well as providing high-quality foods and goods for their families.

While the food co-op movement, which gained some traction in the ‘60s and ‘70s counterculture scene, has been growing, it is still a long way from being ubiquitous in our culture. New York has more food co-ops than most other states. Even so, the High Falls Food Co-Op is the only community-owned store within 50 miles of its location. Shoppers here have developed a trust of the staff to stock items that reflect their ethos, presenting food and goods that are holistic, sustainable, organic, and small business-produced.

Formed in 1976, The High Falls Co-Op—founded by Ellen Messer and Dick Phillips—moved from building to building, until purchasing the current location at the corner of Rte. 213 and Lucas Road, in High Falls. The co-op was originally all vegetarian for many years, but with the awareness and availability of regional sustainably raised meats, as well as the growing and changing needs of the members and public, local grass-fed, organically raised meats are now regularly stocked.

The changes in the co-op’s offerings reflect changes in the area in the past 30 years, with the last ten years seeing the most: more weekenders, more people moving in from the big cities and from around the country, more farmers offering organic foods, and more awareness of the local food scene and the impact of eating well on our lives and health. The store is still evolving and growing, with a recent upgrade and refurbishments, which will offer the customers more choices and more bulk foods. When asked what they would like to see in the future of the co-op, the management mentioned a grain-mill, so that local grains could be milled and offered, as well as a community center.

When asked about the High Falls Food Co-ops’ impact on the local food scene, Ruth Molloy, co-manager and grocery buyer for the co-op explains, “So much is happening around us, in terms of initiative, that it helps us see how our vision could fit into the larger picture. It’s not just from us anymore. That may have been true 10-15 years ago, but now there is this whole network.” The community owns the store, which buys from local producers (farmers, dairies, bakeries, etc), and then sells those products in the store back to the community, completing a circle and keeping the money and business local.

The shoppers benefit by having most, if not all of their shopping needs in one place, with ethically chosen sustainable goods, at a fair price. The farmers and small businesses benefit by having another great place to sell their goods, and the community benefits by keeping their business and money local and by having a great place to meet each other and shop. That’s how business used to be conducted within small, localized communities. As Ryan Fitzgerald, the floor manager, puts it, “It really feels like, to me, that as we move forward, we’re really becoming more old-fashioned. This is the way things used to be.”

High Falls Food Co-Op is located at 1398 Rte. 213, High Falls. Open every day 9 AM-7 PM, Su until 6 PM. Visit www.highfallsfoodcoop.com for membership information.

The wedge of locally grown radicchio is steaming. Just out of the hot cast-iron pan, it rests on an airy cake of quinoa, its cutlet-like breading a perfect shade of golden brown peeking from beneath a layer of melted locally made bleu cheese. Inside the mouth, it’s one astonishing texture and flavor giving way to the next: the moist, salty tang of the cheese over the light and flaky stratum of the breading, followed by the subtly bitter chicory crunch of the cabbage and a forkful of the clean, hearty quinoa. The dish is accompanied by purée of fennel cooked with Japanese mirin wine.

This whole mini-epic for the palate and eyes is just one more savory reminder of the genius that’s made John Novi, head chef and owner of the esteemed Depuy Canal House in High Falls, a contemporary culinary legend for 41 years. The intrepid pioneer of modern Hudson Valley gastronomy, Novi is internationally exalted as one of the key creators of New American cuisine. Once called “the father of American cooking” by Time magazine and singled out by People magazine for his “fearless and imaginative” approach, he’s an Old World–schooled, epoch-making chef whose 41-year-old fine dining and bistro offerings have earned his establishment acclaim by The New York Times as one of “the most interesting and best suburban restaurants in America.” Via their early years at the Canal House, he’s launched the careers of such luminaries as wine gurus Kevin Zraly (Windows on the World) and Steven Kolpan (Culinary Institute of America), Roy Yamaguchi (Roy’s restaurant chain) and others. And now, after all these years, he has his desire to move on from the financial aspect of the business, which often interferes with the profound enjoyment Novi experiences when designing recipes, menus and engaging in the more playful aspects of cooking. “It’s time for a new chapter,” says Novi, whose name, coincidentally, translates as “new” in Italian. The future of this historic building is his main concern, as Novi considers himself caretaker and steward of the property. Novi is brimming with ideas on what the next incarnation of the Canal House might be, and he is passionately in discussion with local investors and officials to make something worthy of the restaurant’s legacy come to fruition. But regrettably, the Canal House, as diners have known it for decades, is now dormant.

Restaurants In High Falls, New York

High Falls, New York, features waterfalls and apple orchards. The eclectic village is home to a variety of nationalities and cultures. The restaurants in High Falls reflect the diversity of the village itself. Whether you're craving soups, sandwiches or burgers or seafood, you will find a restaurant to suit your tastes in High Falls.

Egg's Nest

Situated in a former church, the Egg's Nest is located in the center of High Falls. They offer a variety of menu options, many with a southwestern flair. The Egg's Nest is open seven days a week beginning at 11:30 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Dinner specials are offered from at 5 p.m. onwards each evening. The menu features over-stuffed sandwiches and quesadillas. The food is reasonably priced, partly because they do not allow substitutions on menu options. While they do not accept credit cards, there is an ATM on the premises.

Egg's NestRR 213Stone Ridge, NY 12484845-687-7255theeggsnest.com

Depuy Canal House

Depuy Canal House offers a variety of chicken dishes and pasta dishes. During the holidays, they offer duck confit and beef tenderloin. The menu includes a variety of pizzas as well. Brunch is served 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. The brunch menu features omelets and pastries along with a three-course brunch menu. The Canal House was restored from a stone tavern built in the 1700s. It features a balcony where guests can watch meal preparation.

High Falls Cafe

High Falls Cafe serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday nights with Wednesday night sold as pasta night. They offer acoustic Thursday every week as well. The kids menu offers grilled cheese, grilled chicken and includes cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Their homemade chili is offered in beef and vegetarian varieties. High Falls Cafe offers a private dining room for large parties or meetings and has off-site catering service as well. High-speed Internet is available at the restaurant too.

Northern Spy Cafe

Northern Spy Cafe specializes in contemporary American cuisine. The menu features a meatless meatloaf, a variety of seafood entrees, duck breast and black angus shell steak. Side orders include blue cheese mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries. They are open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday nights and accept reservations. Private dining reservations may be made for parties of 25 to 100. Prices are based upon the menu selected and the choice of wine.